A container for the dispensing of wire or cable has an external carton which receives a reel of cable as supported by two caddies. Each caddy has an inwardly extending substantially cylindrical bushing which is received in a central hole of a respective cable reel flange. The cylindrical bushings are disposed on an axis which is a first distance from the upper surface of the bottom panel of the carton. The largest radius of each reel flange is preselected to be smaller than this such that the reel may freely rotate inside of the carton on the bushings. Cable is pulled through a slot in the carton's front panel. Preferably, left and right panels of the carton each have an arbor hole formed therein which receives an axial rod, the rod also extending through the reel and caddies. The axial rod may be used to join two or more containers together and may further serve as a support for attachment of a wheel truck on one end of the joined-together containers and a handle at its other end. An alternative, four-wheeled cart has multiple axial rods. An alternative hand truck likewise receives multiple axial rods through respective container passageways. In one embodiment, cable may be pulled through one or more pass-through slots formed in the tops and bottoms of stacked containers, such that cable from multiple containers is drawn through one slot on the top of the stack.